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A cool breeze danced through a crowd of about 150 people as the sun set in Birmingham tonight. People of many faiths gathered to stand in solidarity with those in Charlottesville, Va., a city that was recently descended upon by throngs of violent alt-right groups and ended with many injuries and one death.

The evening in Birmingham began with a series of multifaith prayers and then ended with a rally around the spouting fountain at Linn Park. Men, women and children of many ethnicities, ages and backgrounds shouted as one:

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A few days ago, my hubby and I decided to grab lunch. We try to slip in mini-dates anytime we can. (Being married 10 years takes work, folks.)

We went back and forth, trying to figure out where to go. We love Sitar and it’s yummy naan, but we’ve been there a bunch. Yo’ Mama’s and it’s chicken and waffles is a party on the tongue, but is always crowded. We thought about El Barrio, our ALL-TIME FAVORITE, but we wanted to expand our culinary repertoire.

I heard a lot about Southern Kitchen, have seen Facebook posts of folks smiling on its patio and checking in during the happy hour. Plus, I read somewhere that Garth Brooks ate there when he was in town for a concert. If it’s good enough for Garth, surely it’s good enough for me.

We decided to give it a try. We found a parking space right across the street. YES!!! This was shaping up to being a great lunch date.

We walked inside and braced ourselves for some southern cuisine.

The place wasn’t too packed. It had a minimalistic decor with its metal chairs and gray walls. The mood was chill and we sat down ready for lunch.

I skimmed the menu, eyeballing the Bayou Salad with its blackened shrimp and smoked bacon. Mmm…

Then, my husband made a noise. He spotted something on the menu called “plantation pimento cheese.”

“Do you see this,” he said, and pointed out the $8 cheddar cheese blend.

I contorted my face. I thought it was annoying, too, but blew it off and went back to plotting which dressing would top my Bayou bliss.

It was too late, though. Although he hadn’t sampled it, that menu item had put a bad taste in my husband’s mouth (no pun intended). He grabbed his car keys, stood up and motioned for me to join him as we headed toward the door. We hadn’t even gotten our complimentary glass of water yet.

At first I thought he was overreacting. I want my Bayou Salad, man!What is the waiter going to think? The salad has smoked bacon!

Hubby wasn’t having it. We politely excused ourselves and walked next door to Cantina Laredo. We munched on chips and salsa, ordered the chimichangas and had a discussion about cultural sensitivity.

Plantation. When I think about a plantation, I think about a large, usually white, house with plentiful food, warm beds and well-dressed slave owners, while outside were shacks inhabited by African-Americans who worked sun up to sun down, ate scraps and lived in fear of being lynched. The last thing I think about is pimento cheese.

A plantation, for me, symbolizes oppression. The word is grating on my nerves. I don’t think of genteel southerners sipping sweet iced tea and saying “y’all.” I think of people who look like me wishing for the freedom of death because the thought of living outside of chains was unimaginable.

What do you think? Is naming something after a “plantation” offensive? Is it comparable to calling something (fill in the blank with some other symbol of racial oppression) chicken salad?

Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe the folks at Southern Kitchen are trying to hurt African Americans with their pimento cheese!!!I am sure they were simply making a play on words, just like their Charleston cheese dip, Savannah salad, Red Mountain chicken and dumplings, or The Jefferson large plate.

On it’s website Southern Kitchen touts itself as being “inspired by its deep southern roots,” which makes me ask, “Just how deep do we want to go?” It also says “It exudes a casual sophistication that enables all of our guests to feel at home.”

For me, though, a plantation would be the last place I’d think of as a humble abode.

“I looked out and realized that I am going to be looking – every single day – at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church,” said the svelte, finely dressed woman with a petite salt-and-pepper Afro and wide, bright-white smile. “It brought tears to my eyes. It still does.”

“That will remind me every day why I am here and what I need to do,” she said.

Before coming to the Institute to serve as the President and CEO, Taylor served as director of Citizenship and Public Affairs, North America for the Microsoft Corporation. She managed employee engagement and giving and strategic partnerships in the U.S. and Canada with donors, government entities and community-based organizations.

“Technically, I am at an age and stage where I could just sit down in a rocking chair or on a beach,” said the 68 year-old grandmother. “I don’t feel inclined to want to do that now. I am open and eager to do something else.”

And there is not much she hasn’t done. Taylor has visited more than 70 countries for her global work building communities and supporting youth. Up until last year she had been to six continents, having worked professionally on five. In her brief break after Microsoft and before coming to BCRI, she decided to visit her seventh continent so this past winter she took a trip to Antarctica.

“I’ve now seen the world,” she said.

Her next step is to help change the world, through her work with BCRI.

“There is still economic disadvantage and civil and human rights that need to be discussed,” she said. “The Institute can be that neutral space. We are a research and educational resource. We have a voice and a role to play.”

“We can learn from the civil rights movement how the community came together as a collective and made a decision that they were going to make a positive change in a different nature,” she said. “The process and the techniques and the tools are still applicable today.”

And what a great time to be in the city to do so, she said.

“The renaissance going on in Birmingham is impressive. There are a lot of people here from somewhere else. A lot of people are coming because they seek to be a part of the rebirth of the city.”

The Massachusetts-born woman may be new to the the city and to BCRI, but she is not new to its mission of supporting civil and human rights through education. The self-proclaimed “child of the 60s” grew up in a home where her family had a long history of civic activism and engagement, said Taylor who attended the 1963 March on Washington.

“I was very fortunate in that I had parents who fostered that and demanded we be part of that,” she said. “It was always an expectation that we would be involved somehow and substantively in community.”

Her father, Francis Taylor, was a violinist, jazzman and administrator for the city of West Virginia. Her mother, Della Hardman, was art professor at West Virginia State University and all around Renaissance woman as well as Taylor’s role model. Hardman ran a college art department for almost 30 years and at age 72 got her Ph.D. in art education.

“My mother’s mantra was, if there is anything you want to do, get started,” Taylor recalled. “She enjoyed learning and she felt there was no limit to it. If you have your faculties you can continue to learn until the day you die. She wanted to demonstrate to her children and grandchildren that it is never too late.”

Taylor lives by that example.

“Nothing really good happens to people if you don’t say yes,” she said. “You will just be regretting the opportunities you may have let pass you by.”

She said “yes” to serving the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and now her journey has begun.

Taylor, who doesn’t own a car, lives downtown and walks to work. She’s an avid runner, having participated in the New York City Marathon in 2009 and this past Saturday served as the ride ambassador for the Third Annual Ride United Birmingham. She’s a three-decade vegetarian and regular swimmer.

Taylor is also what she calls a “culture vulture.” She loves all things art and culture and says she can’t wait to become a member of the Birmingham Museum of Art.

She is, however, open to Alabama’s favorite pastime.

“I am told I will learn a lot more about football than I know now,” she said with a smile. “I am not as knowledgeable in that area.”

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What do you get when you gather people of all ages, backgrounds and skin tones to talk about the racial climate in Birmingham? Sadly, you get not much more than good intentions.

I went to the Birmingham Museum of Art Friday night hoping to hear locals talk about race and maybe come away inspired and educated. I was attracted to the event’s title, “BMA Speaks to Birmingham: Black Like Who?” and was proud that the museum was leading this conversation. I have been to more events like this than I can count, and each time I hope that we will all leave with our arms locked and singing “Kum ba yah.” Each time, however, that’s not the case.

Still, I was hopeful.

I climbed the museum’s gorgeous marble stairwell, passed the closed cafe with its sleek white sofas and lime-and-white table and chairs, sauntered along the hallway decorated with iconic civil rights images, walked into the event area and was pleasantly surprised – blown away, even. Sitting, standing and chatting in the room were a number of brown women with cottony afros; petite, perfectly dressed old, white ladies; bright-eyed, curious teenagers; dapper professionals with funky eyeglasses; the whole gamut of tall, skinny, bald, brown, beige and black.

This was different than anything I had experienced. Usually at those “let’s talk about race” events, it’s a mostly black crowd of folks who are preaching to the choir, or a slightly mixed crowd who are too polite to push the issue properly.

My hope continued to build.

After podium pleasantries and introductions, two poets walked to the front. The black men tag teamed each other in verse, talking in an engaging, rhythmic tone about the oppression of African Americans. Their voices rose and fell as the words flowed, peppered with powerful images of struggle in this day and age where blacks are gunned down.

“Black lives matter!”

Another poet approached. He had the posture of a king and looked the audience square in the eyes as he spoke words and phrases that were shocking, provocative. He questioned how God could allow blacks to, time and time again, face oppression, to be enslaved, hung, shot. He said that he hopes that God is dead because if He isn’t “He hates niggers.”

Then, in another poem, the same man talked about how blacks have amnesia, a trait that allows them to forget their years of being oppressed. This ability to not remember, he says, is convenient because if blacks could, they would want to “slit white people’s throats.”

I didn’t know how to feel. I, too, have questioned God’s plan in the role of the black man’s story. I, too, have grappled with trying not to assume a whole race of people are the same. One of tragedies of racism, I believe, is that it seems to have caused some people to reject Christianity because it is the “white man’s religion.” That is a travesty. We rob ourselves of what I believe is the only hope we have for healing – Christ.

After hearing the last poet’s words, though powerful, I could not help but wonder if it would prohibit an environment where transparent conversations could be had by all. Some of my people would probably say to that, “Who cares?” But, if you want to have a two-sided conversation you have to consider your audience. You have to.

The air was thick.

Then the panelists came onto the stage. Susan Diane Mitchell, of the Magic City Agriculture Project, was soft-spoken (almost to the point of speaking in a whisper). She talked to the audience about the importance of the woman’s role in today’s justice movement and did so like a mother gently instructing her young. The event’s co-host, poet Sharrif Simmons told his story of being raised in Ethiopia where his “oppressor” did not have white skin, but looked like him. He spoke of how racial identity can be the result of your environment, and how when he moved back to America he had to shift how he saw himself and others. Gwen Ferreti, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, shed tears as she shouted that black lives (and brown lives) matter and talked about her Latino brothers and sisters who share in the struggle to be seen as worthy to breathe air. The very beautiful Shirah Robinson of Black Lives Matter Birmingham, with her flawless nutmeg skin and dark painted lips, spoke of wanting to create a world like the one that exists in her dreams instead of the nightmare she lives every day. Rev. Dave Barnhart, of Saint Junia United Methodist Church, said that the real sin our society commits is creating a world where a little black girl sees herself as inferior.

Things were going well, but then, the floor was opened for questions.

An audience member stood and said that there should have been a “street brother” on the panel to give credibility to the discussion. He had a tense exchange with the sole black man on the stage. It was uncomfortable. It wasn’t fruitful. It was a distraction. But it was familiar. I’ve seen scenes like that before at other conversations about race.

Audience members began to speak. Some tried to be the voice of reason. Others asked questions that diverted to other issues. The line of people who wanted to comment began to grow. A lot of people had something they wanted to say. That, too, was familiar.

When the soundbites ran into each other I began to tune out. Eventually, I just got up and walked away.

Did the attendees, did I, expect one of the panelists or audience members to have some answer, some solution to our race problem? Maybe I did. Foolishly so.

Truth is, we are hungry for conversation. We are starving for community. But, I panels like these are quite common. And, at many of them, I have seen the same folks who were there last night. Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, right. So, are we insane?

I applaud the museum and its organizers for the attempt. Sadly, though, the race discussion is so complex that it would take a million intentional, concerted efforts to make a tiny dent. And, more importantly, it is going to take something greater than ourselves. It will take the one who created us, the lover of all men: Jesus Christ.

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Last Friday, I went to a tribute to jazz pianist Joe Sample. Underneath dim lights, I sat among a crowd of about 200 lovers of all things soulful. While melodies filled every inch of the room, we were catered to by an attentive wait staff and sipped on fruity, mouth-puckering drinks. Suddenly, the emcee stepped onto stage and prompted the audience to bow their heads as he started the night with prayer. Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten that I was in a CHURCH!!!

That’s right, Cafe Nights is a quarterly jazz event at Guiding Light Church in Irondale. For $35 a head, attendees get a full night of live jazz and a three-course meal. (I guess it helps when the pastor, the Rev. Jim Lowe, is a jazz enthusiast and the son of the late great musician and jazz historian J. L. Lowe!)

A 6 p.m. reception kicked off the night and featured a visual arts display by Fred Smith. Guests nibbled on hearty finger food of spiced sausage, egg rolls, spanakopita and sipped on a sparkling grape non-alcoholic beverage from plastic flutes. The crowd then filed into a dark auditorium bedecked with mood lights and a configuration of intimate round tables assigned to the totally sold out crowd.

The band was electric, performing many of Sample’s hits such as “Street Life,” “Fever,” “Eye of the Hurricane” and many others. The ensemble included composer and keyboardist Phil Davis, bassist Sean Michael Ray, J-Rod Sullivan on drums, guitarist Derek Scott and vocalist Dara Carter.

Dinner featured a light summer salad topped with almonds, blueberries, and cheeses. Then, guests had a choice of either Greek chicken with wild rice or stuffed flounder with a medley of vegetables. I recommend the flounder.) The GLC punch is highly recommended. This concoction of lemonade and a blend of fruit juices is delicious. Dessert included choice of Lemon Meringue pie or Chocolate Lovin’ Spoon Cake.

The next event is Friday, December 4 featuring Venus. I will probably see you there.

Final thoughts: This is a great date night option. If you like to sip on a hard drink, however, be aware that there is no alcohol served. There are, however, several offerings of yummy gourmet coffees.

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Ahhh… Esperanza Spalding. Even her name is musical! When I first heard this doe-eyed beauty’s ethereal voice and funky, breezy jazzmatazz rhythms, I was hooked. The 30 year-old jazz bassist, cellist and singer has won three Grammys and wowed audiences with her critically acclaimed “Junjo” (2006), “Esperanza” (2008), “Chamber Music Society” (2010) and “Radio Music Society” (2012).

She has a hauntingly beautiful soprano voice that screams of being classically trained while at the same time having just enough edge to get the attention of lovers of NeoSoul and Hip Hop. If Roberta Flack and Michael Jackson had a baby, it’d be Esperanza!